List Archive (Was: Re: p2p, anonymity and security)

[Derek Martin]

On Fri, Mar 12, 2004 at 12:04:00PM -0500, Bruce Dawson wrote:
> On Fri, 2004-03-12 at 11:01, Kenneth E. Lussier wrote:
> > However, I think that the posting of the whois information was not only
> > unnecessary, but completely inappropriate to the discussion. 
> 
> And *I* think it was entirely appropriate given the context of the
> discussion. Whois information is publically available - just like your
> voting information, property tax info, EIN (if you're a corporation),

I guess my parents had a completely different idea of manners that
they taught me...  I learned that doing something which someone has
explicitly asked you not to do, without having a pretty good reason to
do so, is NEVER appropriate, and simply rude.  Trying to make someone
look foolish does not constitute such a reason...

> As a system administrator, I want to know the person responsible for any
> given IP address that connects to any of my systems. 

Well, you go on to point out that you don't.  So what difference does
it make?

> This is a "check and balance" that the internet community (ISPs and
> backbones, mostly) agreed to at the inception of the internet - back
> when it was split from the Arpanet.

This "check and balance" is a violation of domain owners' privacy,
which should not be possible without just cause, i.e. a court order.
These days it may be possible to hide your information with some
registrars; it was not when I registered pizzashack.

> > So, mailing lists aside, just how much privacy are we *FORCED* to give
> > up to participate in this whackey little thing that we called the
> > internet? And who decides what amount of lost privacy is ok? 
> 
> As soon as your start participating in society, you start giving up
> privacy. If you don't agree with that statement, then our definitions of
> privacy differ - and that's an altogether different topic and this is
> NOT the forum to discuss it.

This response completely fails to address the point, for which I think
there are few better forums than this one.  It is becoming
increasingly difficult to use the internet and maintain one's privacy.
At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to live
without using the internet.  Most of us on this list depend upon it in
one way or another.  So, how much privacy should we be required to
sacrifice?

In my opinion, which should surprise no one, the answer is almost
none.  Only what is absolutely essential in order to make things work.
My ISP knows who I am...  No one else needs to, unless a) I want them
to, or b) they can get a court order because of something I did to
them.

People who fight spam are fighting the wrong battle.  The spammers
should never have gotten your information in the first place.  The
only way to prevent spam is to prevent spammers from finding you.
You can filter it all you like, but it's still going to get delivered
to you.

-- 
Derek D. Martin    http://www.pizzashack.org/   GPG Key ID: 0xDFBEAD02
-=-=-=-=-
Despite the ever-increasing complexities of human society and the advancement
of science and technology, the most perplexing problems that face most people
remain what to eat for lunch today, and who to sleep with tonight.
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